RICHMOND - Most of Vermont is experiencing drought conditions, but you wouldn't know it by looking at Deb Conant's yard full of pumpkins.

Rain was rare this year, but it came at just the right time to yield healthy gourds in hot weather at Conant's Riverside Farm in Richmond.

"Obviously none of us have had the amount of rain as we should have," Conant said. "The pumpkins didn't care. I have a bumper crop this year of really beautiful pumpkins."

The crop came as a welcome surprise after last year, when too much rain caused Conant's pumpkin seeds to rot in the ground and fail. This year, Conant said her sweet corn in August showed signs of stress from lack of rain, but the pumpkins grew better than they had for years.

A map created by the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University shows that almost all of Vermont was considered abnormally dry as of Thursday. A swath of Chittenden County was considered to be experiencing severe drought, while moderate drought affected Addison County, Windsor County and areas to the south.

The most extreme drought in New England affected the southern regions of Maine and New Hampshire and the eastern half of Massachusetts, where some crops failed in the dry conditions, according to the Boston Globe.

A bit further south from Conant's bumper crop, another farm was also enjoying a good year for pumpkins.

Norma Norris, owner of Norris Berry Farm in Monkton, said her pumpkins experienced very little pressure from disease or insects, and drip irrigation helped her plants to thrive.

"It's funny that we've experienced a real drought," Norris said, looking out over a front yard nearly covered in orange, "and yet if you could get water to things, they did exceptionally well."

Norris grew a little more than two acres of pumpkins.

"Now we can only hope to sell them all," she said.

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Pumpkins line the front yard of Conant's Riverside Farm in Richmond.(Photo: APRIL BURBANK/FREE PRESS)

This story was first published on Oct. 8, 2016. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbankDo you have a breaking news tip? Call us at 802-660-6500 or send us a post on Facebook or Twitter using #BFPTips.